Interferon alfa-2a/2b
Interferon alfa was the first biologic cancer drug (1986). It treated hairy cell leukaemia, CML, melanoma, kidney cancer and Kaposi sarcoma, and has been replaced almost everywhere by better-tolerated agents.
Approved 1986 for hairy cell leukaemia, then AIDS-KS (1988), CML (1990s), adjuvant melanoma (1995, high-dose; pegylated 2011) and follicular lymphoma. Flu-like symptoms, depression, fatigue and autoimmunity limited use; imatinib, checkpoint inhibitors and TKIs replaced it, and the non-pegylated products were discontinued (Intron A 2021, Roferon-A 2007). Interferon survives in MPN as ropeginterferon.
Approvals
| Region | Year | Indication |
|---|---|---|
| US | 1986 | Hairy cell leukaemia |
| US | 1988 | AIDS-related Kaposi sarcoma |
| US | 1995 | Adjuvant high-risk melanoma (high-dose) |
Trials
topRecruiting now (live from ClinicalTrials.gov)
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Latest papers
topQuery for this drug: (TITLE:"Interferon alfa-2a/2b" OR ABSTRACT:"Interferon alfa-2a/2b" OR TITLE:"Roferon-A" OR ABSTRACT:"Roferon-A" OR TITLE:"Intron A" OR ABSTRACT:"Intron A" OR TITLE:"Sylatron" OR ABSTRACT:"Sylatron") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Interferon alfa-2a/2b, not a curated reading list.